Egypt should investigate, solve journalist murders

His Excellency Hesham Barakat
Office of
the Public Prosecutor
Supreme Court House
26th
of July Street
Cairo,
Egypt

Fax: +202
2 577 4716

Dear Counselor Barakat,

On
November 26, the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly passed a
resolution on the safety of journalists and the issue of impunity, a demonstration
of the deep level of global concern. The only way to break the cycle of
impunity is to bring to justice the killers of journalists, something Egypt has
failed to do. Egypt is ranked second on CPJ's list of the deadliest countries for
journalists in 2013.

CPJ
research shows that at least nine journalists have been killed in
relation to their work in Egypt since the beginning of the uprising in early
2011. Six of those were killed in 2013. No one has been held responsible in any
of the cases.

On
September 4, CPJ launched a calling
for fair and serious investigations into the killings of journalists in Egypt. More
than 1,000 individuals supported the campaign, including prominent Egyptian
journalists, press freedom advocates, and civil society members. But nothing
has been done to counter the level of impunity that exists in the country.

Today,
as we approach the first anniversary of the murder of Egyptian reporter Al-Hosseiny
Abou Deif, we again urge you to open an investigation into the killings of journalists
in Egypt, which date back to the start of the uprising in 2011, and to identify
and bring to justice those responsible.

We
are attaching to this letter a list of the journalists killed since 2011. We
hope that the Egyptian government will uphold the rule of law by thoroughly investigating
these cases and ensuring the perpetrators of the crimes are brought to justice.

List
of journalists killed since 2011 uprising, according to CPJ research:

--Ahmad
Mohamed Mahmoud, a reporter for the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper, was
shot by a sniper on January 28, 2011, while covering anti-government protests
in Cairo.

--Wael Mikhael, a
cameraman for the Coptic television broadcaster Al-Tareeq, was shot dead on
October 9, 2011, in Cairo while filming violent clashes between Coptic
Christian protesters and the military in front of the headquarters of the
Television and Radio Union.

--Al-Hosseiny
Abou Deif, a reporter for the private weekly El-Fagr, died in a local
hospital on December 12, 2012, after being shot in the head seven days earlier while
covering clashes in Cairo between anti-government protesters and Muslim
Brotherhood supporters.

--Salah
al-Din Hassan, a reporter with independent news website Shaab Masr
(Egyptian People), was killed on June 29, 2013, by a homemade bomb that was thrown
by an unidentified person while the journalist was covering a demonstration
against former President Mohamed Morsi in the city of Port Said.

--Ahmed
Assem el-Senousy, a photographer for the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice
newspaper, was killed by a sniper on July 8, 2013, while covering clashes in
front of the headquarters of the Republican Guard, in Cairo.

--Mick Deane, a Sky
News cameraman, was shot and killed on August 14, 2013, as security forces
stormed a sit-in demonstration at Rabaa Al-Adawiya, Nasr City.

--Ahmed
Abdel Gawad, a reporter for the state-run Al-Akhbar newspaper, was shot
dead on August 14, 2013, while covering a raid by Egyptian security forces on a
sit-in demonstration at Rabaa Al-Adawiya, in Nasr City.

--Mosaab
al-Shami, a photographer for Rassd News Network, was killed on August 14,
2013, after being shot by a sniper while trying to escape gunfire from security
forces dispersing a sit-in demonstration in Rabaa Al-Adawiya, Nasr City.

--Tamer
Abdel Raouf, director of the Beheira bureau of the state-runAl-Ahram
newspaper, was killed on August 19, 2013, when soldiers opened fire on his
vehicle at a checkpoint in the Nile Delta city of Damanhur.